August 15, 2006
Jennings Cy Bid
Jason Jennings pitched 8 one-run innings tonight for the Colorado Rockies, lowering his ERA to 3.34. He won't get the win, as the game is tied at one in the bottom of the ninth. His ERA puts him in sixth place in the NL ERA race, and he should get some Cy Young consideration. He still plays in Coors field, and this may be the greatest season every by a Rockies starter. Working against that, of course, is that there are three Rockies starters with ERAs well below 4.00. I don't know what changed, but Colorado put together a staff to be reckoned with.
A win by the Rockies ties them in the standings with the Diamondbacks.
Update: Regulation ends with the score still 1-1. They play extra-frames in Colorado.
Posted by David Pinto at
11:31 PM
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Jennings and Francis are obviously having excellent years, but conditions at Coors Field are obviously making it not the Coors Field of yesteryear. The obvious explanation is the humidor.
But the humidor is not new.
That would be awesome to see a Cy young winner from Colorado!
But the way they use it is new. Supposedly, they used to pick balls out of it randomly. Now, they systematically take the ones that have been in there the longest, or for some set amount of time. So as I understand it, they're ensuring that the humidor does its thing on every ball used.
I've also read that the infield grass is longer, which has led to a sharp (15-20%) decrease in BABIP for grounders... though that could partly be due to the humidor as well.
I think the park factor for Coors this year is something like 1.01 - leaugue average, or close enough. I'd have to give the award to Webb based on performance thus far; keeps his walks down, has increased his strikeouts, and is a fantastic groundball pitcher. For the AL, I might go with Papelbon for his ERA and Win Probability Added... or Santana, as he's the best pitcher in terms of "true skill" (i.e. how likely it is that he is this good again next year).
i swore i read a former rockie this year complain that they were using those "special" balls; i believe they may be doing something more than humidifying them. Was it Eli marerro ? can someone help me out? im sure im not the only one to read this.
Yeah, the Rockies' home and away stats don't have that huge split like they used to, and the park effects are basically neutral. Can anyone confirm that they're using the humidor differently this year? It's the only logical explanation, unless everybody who plays in Colorado (at home or as a visitor) is suddenly having a fluke year.
My understanding is that they are leaving them in the humidor longer. It looks like they overshot the mark.
On the bright side, I just managed to pick up Jason Jennings and Aaron Cook late in the season for my fantasy team. (Someone else caught on and got Webb).